The United States Treasury Department might run "dangerously low" on cash reserves next month as the United States faces an "elevated risk" of defaulting on its debt, according to an analysis from a major think tank.
The Bipartisan Policy Center released a report Monday analyzing what could happen if the U.S. fails to raise or suspend the national debt limit. The U.S. could default on its debt as early as next week unless the White House and Congress can come to an agreement.
"Come early June, Treasury will be skating on very thin ice that will only get thinner with each passing day," Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told The New York Times. "Of course, the problem with skating on thin ice is that sometimes you fall through."
The analysis added after Memorial Day next week, the Treasury will be "dangerously low" on cash and each following day will carry additional risk.
The center predicted the "X-date," which is the day that the Treasury runs out of cash, is likely to come between June and early August depending on how much the government brings in through tax revenue by June 15.
"If policymakers do not act on the debt limit, Treasury will most likely have insufficient cash to meet all its financial obligations sometime between early June and early August 2023, with an elevated risk between June 2 and June 13," according to the report.
"If revenues can sustain operations through that date, Treasury would likely be able to forestall default through the crucial date of June 30, when approximately $145 billion in one-time, additional extraordinary measures become available by suspending investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund," the report concluded.
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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